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Market 99: Two-tone Giulia SS project

Update 3/31/09: Auction ended at $32,299 with 32 bids. This is strong money and reaffirms that SS’s are sought after right now. If the new owner is happy with the cosmetic condition and drops it off at a shop to be made to run and drive they will probabkly be $50K into it when they take their first test drive. They will be pushing $60K if they decide the two-tone paint needs to be rectified. The DIY home mechanic could probably see this on the road for about $40K out of pocket. The white SS that was on eBay recently is looking better when all this is considered.

Update 3/29/09: A kind reader took some pictures when he went to see it in person. He reported that it needs more work than he thought it would before seeing it and that the paint was not as good as it looks in the pictures. Still, this is one of the better SS projects to show up in a while. Spy shots here.Giulia Sprint Speciale 10121*381357, no engine number stated, but said to be original. Available right now on eBay out of La Habra Ca is this 1965 SS. Seller says it’s a 1966 but it was (according to Fusi and d&T) made in 1965, the year production ceased at car number 381399. The two tone treatment is reminiscent in my opinion to that seen on some Lotus Elites. Some assembly required.

This is a great angle for SS’s. I like the two-tone treatment, but would consider painting the roof to match the body color.

The paint has a nice lustre and the trim and bumpers looks good. It looks like the Alfa grill badge is missing.

Imagine if the whole car was this color. These markers are the same as what was on my Fulvia when I had it. I don’t think they are original to this car unless it’s a European market car.

Another view of the SS you don’t often see. There is a little rust on that front rim. Hood spear is nice and straight.

I would have to see this in person to pass a thorough judgement on the two tone approach. Doesn’t look bad, but I don’t think it does justice to the lines of the car, breaking them up unnecessarily. Rear end looks straight and clean.

Door shut line looks right.

Auction text verbatim:

” VERY RARE , ONLY 1400 MADE ”

” A REPORTED 876 LEFT IN THE WORLD TODAY ”

” BODY BY BERTONE , STATE OF THE ART !! ”

” 2 OWNER, ONLY 46,000 MILES ”

” UNTERLY RUST FREE, PERFECT UNDERSIDE ”

” BLACK PLATE CALIFORNIA CAR, ”

1966 ALFA ROMEO SPRINT SPECIALE 1600 COUPE, ONE OF ONLY 876 REPORTED LEFT IN THE WORLD, CORRECT MOTOR, JUST OUT OF 20 YEARS IN DRY STORAGE, NEVER SEEING RAIN OR SUNLIGHT, PERFECT RUST FREE, BLACK PLATE CALIFORNIA CAR WITH A REPORTED 46,000 ORIGINAL MILES, ORIGINAL PERIOD MOTOROLA RADIO, BEAUTIFUL GAUGES, BEAUTIFUL ORIGINAL NARDI STEERING WHEEL, ORIGINAL FRONT FLOOR MATS, ORIGINAL CARPET, HEADLINER, AND SEATS, PERFECT GLASS, THE CAR IS NOT RUNNING, MOTOR REPORTED REBUILT BOTTOM END AND PISTONS, IT LOOKS LIKE IT, CAMS ARE LOOSE, AS ARE SOME OTHER PARTS, DRIVE SHAFT IT OFF, BUT WITH CAR, ONLY ONE WEBER, BUT I THINK I HAVE THE OTHER IN MY STORAGE, PRETTY SURE, CAR IS COMPLETE + – , I HAVE LOTS OF ALFA PARTS, THE CAR NEEDS TO BE RESTORED , MOTOR TURNS OVER BY HAND, THIS IS A FRONT DISC BRAKE CAR, ALL CHROME IS VERY NICE, NICE OLDER PAINT, LOVELY INTERIOR, BUT OLDER, GREAT PANEL FIT, DOORS FIT NICELY, AS DOES TRUNK AND HOOD, IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR ONE OF THE RAREST ALFA’S THIS IS THE CAR !!!!, ONLY 1400 BUILT, 876 REPORTED STILL EXIST, CAN SHIP TO MOST PORTS IN EUROPE FOR $1450 IN CONTAINER, OR ARRANGE TRUCKING IN THE US, THANKS FOR LOOKING .”

Rear window fits well and the trunk close line looks good. Not sure about this antennae placement.

The business. By the sellers description I’d buy into this car assuming it needs a full mechanical rebuild.

Yet another seldom seen view. Look how wide the dash is! That fender mounted mirror looks a little too heavy for my taste.

This interior looks almost exactly the same as that of Market 1 SS, a few posts prior to this. Gauges and everything else looks good. I guess it started life white.

Bask seat, if you can call it that legally, is in nice shape. Headliner shows a little discoloration from what can be seen.

This car looks really good to me. If one could live with the two-tone and do an engine rebuild themselves they probably have the chance right here to get in to a Giulia SS for less than prohibitive money. That said, I bet this car goes for more than anyone cares to guess. $35,000 perhaps? $40,000 perhaps? If it’s rust free and complete, the DIY buyer should be comfortable with either of those prices. Much more than that and they are better served buying a more correct running car for retail money

876 reported left in the world today? I suspect that’s not far from the mark, I wonder what the sellers source is.

I went and looked at the car. I did not scrutinize it closely due to lack of time, but it looked very solid. Seller bought a package of Alfa stuff, and is not an Alfa guy really, so buyer will have to assist combing thru a pile of parts to isolate what goes with it.

Ian – this is good to hear. I am in the hunt on this one and have been trying in the last 24 hours to contact seller to have a buddy go look at it.

As for the other bits he may have, it look like the main items that need to be fished out of his stash would be the other carb, accel linkage and air cleaner assembly. But I am an Alfa newbie, so there may be more. Hard to tell from the pics.

well, God help me, I won the auction at 32,300. I’ll keep you guys up to date, but this will be a leisurely project for me – I need to sell the ’68 Ferrari 365GT2+2 I’ve been working on the past 11 years to finance this project and clear some space in the garage!

I already helped locate the air cleaner and brackets, firewall clamps, carbs brace, accel linkage (some of it), correct motor mounts, exhaust headers. Phil says he has the other carb. The airbox plenum is wrong I think. Looks like 105. Previous owner had a thing about chrome. You’ll see what I mean when you actually see the car. Look me up when you come out, I’m 20 minutes away in Fullerton. My next door neighbor has a very nicely restored ’65 Speciale you should get a look at for inspiration.

Ian – thank you for helping round up the parts! I have a friend who is a Ferrari restorer in San Diego who came up the day before the auction ended to check out the car. I am not actually going to come out; my friend will bring his rig from SD and get the car this weekend, making sure all the bits get packed with it. I’ll arrange for shipping in a week or so.

I breathlessly await the chrome and will get an opinion from the local Alfa gods re: the airbox.

Ian – I almost forgot, I posted a few of your pics of the car on the “other Italian” section of Ferrarichat. Feel free to drop me a line at bryanandelizabeth@verizon.net so I can get your full name and give you photo credit on that forum.

Here’s an update. The car got here just fine. As I posted above, I was able to have Sam Smith, Les Smith and Harlan Hadley come over to check out the car and 4 boxes of parts.

The bad news; I am missing a couple of things; the air plenum is indeed from a 105 Giulia and not correct for (and will not fit) the Giulia SS. I do have the correct air canister (even though it is currently chromed). I understand that I can probably use a 750 plenum until I am able to source the correct, magnesium SS plenum. Also, even though I have the right sump, The little goose- neck tube that is part of the sump is missing and may be difficult to source.

The good news: everything else is there and in pretty good shape. Our theory is that the car was last registered in CA in 1972, but then taken off the road in 1974 or 75 for a cosmetic restoration – when the two-tone paint was done. The nicest surprise was the interior – it looks like it was done and then never used. The vinyl is about perfect; only the foam under it has dried and collapsed. The carpet underneath that plastic floor mat is perfect; not a bit of wear. No rust!! The storage must have been very dry.

The Alfa archive folks tell me that the car was a February 1965 production – originally imported into New Jersey.

I have a lot of work to do, but I do it all myself, and am more of a wrench guy than a polisher, so the fun is about to start. Once I sell another car, I can start the work. The cams and valves are out – the boxes of parts contain brand new valves and guides, among other things. I have been told that the original camshafts for Giulia Sprint Speciales were a bit hotter than regular Veloce cams – that they were the same cams as put in the street versions of the TZ? The headers are NOS and do not appear to have ever been used.

Overall, I am very happy w/ my purchase and will be in touch as I make progress.

Glad you are pleased with what arrived at your door. I am not sure, but I don’t thinkt he SS plenum is Mag and Centerline carries a very nice repro of the one you need. That is what I will be buying when the time comes unless I get lucky and score an original.

Regarding cams, do some research on the alfaBB. The 121 cam’s are not spoken of very highly. I think for regular street use you would be better served with 10548’s or current 11.1 mm lift cams generally available.